Minister of State (I/C) for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan welcomed the Budget 2017-18 proposals announced by Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Shri ArunJaitley in the Parliament today. Budget 2017-18 aims to Transform the quality of governance and quality of life, Energise various sections of society and Clean the country from the evils of corruption and black money.

With an aim to give a fillip to Oil and Gas Industry, the Finance Minister announced several measures in Budget 2017 -18. The key initiatives include:

1.Reduction in the basic customs duty on LNG from 5% to 2.5%.

2.Setting up of two more strategic oil reserves at Chandikhole in Odisha and Bikaner in Rajasthan to enhance country’s energy security taking our strategic reserve capacity to 15.33 MMT. This will increase our storage capacity to meet the consumption requirement of about 90 days which is at par with the international benchmarks.

3.Foreign companies shall not be liable to tax in India in case of sale of leftover stock of crude oil in case of strategic petroleum reserve after the expiry of agreement or the arrangement, subject to fulfilment of certain conditions.

4.Creation of an integrated public sector ‘oil major’ to integrate the oil sector PSUs across the value chain and to enhance capacity of Oil PSUs to bear higher risks, avail economies of scale, take higher investment decisions and create more value for the stakeholders.

5.Encouraging digital payments through creation of digital payment infrastructure across all fuel stations by setting up facilities for digital payments including BHIM app.

The Finance Minister has also praised the Direct Benefit Transfer scheme for LPG and kerosene of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas which is underway across states in his Budget speech.